Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection
by jumpin
Summary: Sequal to An Act of Betrayal, The hybrids are still upset with the rest of the crew, and a new threat in on the horizon. The mysteries of Legaia are still unknown, and the Omega molecule isn't even close to finishing what it started. NEW CHAPTER 5
1. Prologue

Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection

Prologue

The past two months after the confrontation with the Socadan and the Borg science vessel were thankfully quiet.

Seven and B'Elanna had assumed correctly about the Socadan, because as soon as they left Socadan space they hadn't heard a single thing from them.

Captain Janeway had hoped that given time the hybrids would calm down and listen to reason, but unfortunately time didn't seem to heal all wounds.

B'Elanna, Naiomi, and especially Seven had kept their distance from the rest of the crew since the incident, increasing the rift between them and the crew.

They had even refused to use quarters aboard Voyager, preferring to stay aboard Legaia.

It was a wonder that they could even be comfortable in a ship of that size, seemingly only designed for short away missions, or so the rest of the crew thought.

At first Janeway had hoped that by B'Elanna taking over as civilian head of engineering, and Seven taking over as chief medical officer it would smooth things over.

B'Elanna seemed to have adopted a different command style since her return, something the crew had picked up on almost immediately. Instead of getting angry when someone did something incorrectly or when her orders were questioned she simply ignored it with an aloofness similar to Seven. It was more of a 'do what I say or don't, in the end it doesn't really matter to me either way' kind of situation.

Seven was also acting in a similar fashion. It was obvious that she was a very good medical officer, but she avoided small talk with the rest of the crew as much as possible.

B'Elanna believed it was mostly due to Seven's loss of superior physical strength. Where she once was able to fall back on her Borg strength was no longer an option. Her 'Evolution' for lack of a better words had removed or altered her implants to the point where her strength was average for a woman her size.

Naiomi was also having problems getting along with the rest of the crew. She felt extremely uncomfortable around the rest of the crew, and had taken to spending her days with Seven in sick bay.

With Seven's Borg knowledge and Naiomi looking up to her as she did Naiomi was learning more than she ever did before.

At first Janeway had tried to step in, thinking that Seven wouldn't be able to teach a young girl all she needed to know, but upon her first meeting with the two she had been proven wrong. After taking one look at the essay Naiomi was writing she couldn't help but be impressed. She wasn't even able to understand an essay on warp on theory at Naiomi's age let alone write one.

Even though everything was going as well as possible aboard Voyager, Seven and B'Elanna couldn't help but be a little worried. Nothing had happened since they destroyed the Borg science vessel, but the fact still remained that they were able to send out a message, and even if it was a partial one, a destroyed science vessel would definitely attract attention.

It would only be a matter of time.

To Be Continued…

Well this is the start to part II, I hope you like it, and this encourages you to REVIEW

I would also like to thank Meagan for doing all the great beta work for the first part of Evolutions. Unfortunately she will not be able to continue beta-ing for me. She honestly did such a great job, I'm going to have a lot of trouble finding someone as good as her to take over.

Meagan, if you ever have time to start beta-ing again just send me an e-mail. We just worked together so well, and the way you leave the notes on the side of the page really helped.

I wish you luck in everything you do, and it has been a real pleasure to have you help me with my first story!


	2. Mothers and Daughters

I was wondering if anyone was interested in being a beta reader for Evolutions II? If anyone is interest could you drop me a line at 

As always PLEASE REVIEW!!

Anyway on with the story 

Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection

Chapter One

Seven woke up with a smile on her face, a site that was becoming common place aboard Legaia. An unforeseen benefit of merging with Omega had been the removal of her emotional inhibitor. She was now free to experience the full range of her emotions.

Seven smiled as she looked at the still sleeping form of B'Elanna. They had not made love yet, but both had decided that they preferred to share the same room. B'Elanna because she had taken her role as Seven's protector very seriously, and Seven because after experiences with the Socadan simply felt more comfortable around Seven.

"You're up early." B'Elanna yawned as she sat up in bed. "What are you thinking about?" She said as she kissed Seven tenderly.

"I am thinking about us." Seven said thoughtfully as she rested her head under B'Elanna's chin.

"What about us?" B'Elanna asked as she ran her fingers through Seven's hair.

"Have you ever wondered why we have been able to use our new abilities only in situations where they have been absolutely necessary to our survival?" Seven asked referring to how she was able to heal B'Elanna in the bar fight, and how B'Elanna was able to block a phaser beam.

"Well that isn't entirely true." B'Elanna pointed out. "I still have my strength. I'm still not even sure how it's possible." She said thoughtfully.

Truthfully B'Elanna could bench press Seven if she really wanted to, and that was only the beginning. She had found in day to day activities she had no trouble lifting the heaviest of equipment.

"I meant more along the lines of how we are able to manipulate energy directly." Seven said as she rubbed B'Elanna's arm. She too had wondered how B'Elanna was as strong as she was.

"Sure I've wondered Seven, but it isn't like we can find out without the rest of the crew finding out as well." B'Elanna pointed out. "All the information would have to be stored on Voyager's computer core. Anyone with the right clearance codes could access it."

"Have you ever heard of optical information storage?" Seven asked.

"Sure, all of Voyager's consoles have optical ports but even so optical storage devices have a limited storage capacity. They can only store as much information as a standard data pad." B'Elanna said.

"I would not be storing the information on a data pad." Seven said with a smirk.

"Then where?" B'Elanna asked. Her interest peeked.

"I have discovered that I am able interact with optical ports." Seven revealed.

"Really?" B'Elanna asked as began to playfully run her fingers over Seven's body. "I wonder where you keep all of it."

"Certainly not there." Seven laughed as B'Elanna cupped her bottom.

"Well we can't be too sure." B'Elanna smiled as she kissed Seven.

"I can store large quantities of information in what I believe is my cortical node." Seven said as B'Elanna broke the kiss.

"What you believe is your cortical node?" B'Elanna asked curiously. Seven usually didn't have to guess about things like that.

"Since I merged with Omega I have been able to do things that I can not explain. The only conclusion is my body was altered radically, much more than my outward appearance. I believe that the only way to discover more about our abilities is to examine ourselves. With my access to sickbay it should not be a problem." Seven declared.

"It sounds like a plan, but how do you interact with the optical port?" B'Elanna asked curiously. "Do you think that I can do it too?"

"When I look into an optical port I am able to form a connection. We may find out if it is one of your abilities then." Seven said.

"Seven, B'Elanna are you awake yet?" Naomi asked from outside the door.

"You can come in Naomi." B'Elanna said as Seven moved off her lap.

Naomi entered the bedroom, also wearing her pajamas.

"Are you going to be staying with us in sickbay too B'Elanna?" Naomi asked.

Since B'Elanna had agreed to be the civilian acting head of engineering she had only worked in engineering if major repairs or projects were taking place. She left Lieutenant Carey in charge of the day to day activities, and spent most of her time helping Seven in sickbay.

"Sure," B'Elanna agreed. "I'm sure that Carey can handle the rest of the shield emitter tests."

"Good." Naomi smiled. "Can you help me with my essay on warp mechanics then?" Naomi asked hopefully.

"Only if she does not give you the answers, and only helps you with the research." Seven added.

The last time that B'Elanna had helped Naomi with an essay she had become so engrossed with the subject that she had written most if not all of the essay herself.

"_I can't believe you failed Naomi" B'Elanna said incredulously. "That essay was absolutely perfect."_

"_You are correct B'Elanna, the essay was very well written." Seven said looking up from her desk._

"_Then why? The part about the warp relays and the intermix ratio was brilliant." B'Elanna defended._

"_I am not arguing the fact that the essay was well written B'Elanna." Seven said with a smirk, as she started to do her work again._

"_Then what?" B'Elanna asked as she walked behind Seven's desk and spun her chair around. "I spent four hours on that essay. How could you fail me?"_

"_So you wrote the essay?" Seven asked with a knowing smile._

"_Yes that's what I said I- Wait a minute you knew?" B'Elanna asked as realized she just admitted it as well now._

"_It had become obvious after the first paragraph B'Elanna. For future reference Naiomi does not know the exact resonance frequency of the warp core, or how to calculate it." Seven said openly laughing now. _

"That happened one time." B'Elanna argued with a laugh.

"We promise it won't happen again." Naomi agreed.

The three hybrids spent the next half hour getting ready and going down to the ready room for the morning meeting.

When the hybrids arrived they noticed that they were the last ones. This was a usual occurrence considering that they had to travel the furthest to reach the ready room.

"Does anyone have anything new to bring up?" Janeway asked, starting the meeting.

"I do, actually." Lt. Carey said. "We've recently begun to have some problems with the recent upgrades."

"What kind of problems?" Janeway asked. Most of the upgrades that received from the delta quadrant natives were notorious for being unstable.

"Most of the new systems are unable to communicate properly with the rest of Voyager's systems. There are system conflicts all over the ship. It's like they're fighting each other, I've never seen anything like it before." Carey said, thoroughly confused.

"B'Elanna, any ideas?" Janeway asked. She knew that this was a sensitive subject for the hybrids but she had to know of this problem was serious.

"Carey's right. The new systems you had installed are fighting the old ones. The Socadan probably planned it this way." B'Elanna agreed. In all honesty she had been suspicious of for the last couple of months.

"Why would they do that?" Chakotay asked. "And why didn't anyone see it coming?"

"Is it not obvious?" Seven asked, considering Chakotay's intelligence. "Did you truly believe that they would part with technology of that caliber so easily?"

"They never had any intention of keeping their word. The technology was only supposed to last until we left Socadan space, and we'd gone too far to come back." Paris deduced.

"You are correct." Seven said, sparing a glance at Paris.

"Don't we have procedures in place to catch these kinds of problems?" Janeway asked. They used to always catch this kind of thing early on.

"You used to." B'Elanna said, now seriously wondering how they had gotten as far as they did.

"It was B'Elanna's job to examine the possibility of integrating new technology." Seven clarified for everyone.

The senior staff had nothing to say to that as an uncomfortable silence descended upon them.

"You should probably just rip out all the Socadan technology, before it starts doing some serious damage to the rest of Voyager's systems." B'Elanna advised after a few minutes of silence.

"Isn't their anyway we can keep at least some of the technology?" Janeway asked, feeling a little desperate. If none of the technology could be saved she would be forced to admit that everything they had done to the hybrids was in vain.

"There really isn't any way of knowing." B'Elanna said with a sigh, sensing how much work she would end up having to do. "Right now they're causing more damage than good. After everything's been removed then it would be safe to look through each one and see what can be saved."

"How long do you think it's going to take?" Kim asked.

"I'm not really sure. I wasn't there for the installation." B'Elanna said, with a thinly veiled barb. "You should probably get Carey to take care of it."

"Alright," Janeway said with a sigh. "Carey get started on removing the modifications. You're all dismissed." Janeway ended the meeting.

Samantha Wildman sighed as took a break from her work. She hadn't seen or spoken to her daughter since she returned with Seven and B'Elanna to fight off the Socadan ship.

At first she was sad about not seeing her daughter, and the fact that her daughter was still very angry with her, but as much as she hated to admit it she began to enjoy her time alone.

It reminded her of the times before she had met Naomi's father. She could admit to herself now that she really wasn't ready to be a mother, and neither was Naomi's father. In fact she had received a letter from him shortly after they began to use the Midas array.

He basically said that he wasn't ready to be a father and was signing over full custody of Naomi to her. It turned out that after they were all declared legally dead he had moved on. He wasn't married, but after that length of time he said his feelings had changed.

At first Samantha was angry and hurt by his abrupt dismissal of her, but after a while she had to admit to herself he was right. Any feelings that he had for him had dwindled after all the time that had passed in the delta quadrant.

Looking back it all started to make sense. The doctor was right, all the emotions had to be come from somewhere, and they were most definitely heightened because she certainly didn't hate Naomi, she just wanted to go back to a life where she didn't have to take care of another living person.

Subconsciously she guessed that she had always been looking for a way out, and when an opportunity presented itself she had taken it. It was why she had encouraged Naomi's friendship with Seven from the beginning.

'_I know that Naomi likes Seven and B'Elanna, she spends all her time with them. Maybe I should just step back and let them make their arrangement permanent.' _Samantha decided as took her lunch break and headed to sick bay, positive that the hybrids would be there. _'It would be just like I was the aunt that visits every now and then.'_

When Samantha stepped inside sickbay she was greeted by the sight of Seven, Naomi, and B'Elanna talking about what she presumed was Naomi's school work.

"Samantha Wildman." Seven greeted as she stood up to meet her.

"Seven, I wanted to talk to you about something, well all three of you I guess." Samantha said keeping her voice calm.

"What would you like to discuss?" Seven asked, a little worried that Samantha was going to try and take Naomi away.

"Seven, do you enjoy taking care of Naomi?" Samantha asked carefully. She wanted to be careful not to send them the wrong message.

"Yes." Seven answered without hesitation. "I enjoy my time immensely with Naomi." Seven said as Naomi smiled at her.

"What's this about?" B'Elanna asked, always the most straight forward of them.

"Would you like to stay with Seven and B'Elanna permanently?" Samantha asked Naomi.

Naomi looked at her mother for a long moment before answering, "Yes." She didn't want her mother to see how she felt about it.

"That's great." Samantha smiled, not picking up on how Naomi really felt about it. "I'll tell Chakotay to draw up the custody papers." She said as she turned on heel and left.

Naomi was about change her mind when she noticed the look of relief on her mother's face. She didn't want to be her mother anymore.

"Naomi." Seven said as the door closed behind Samantha. She immediately rushed over to the girl and hugged her.

"It's really over." Naomi said as the tears began to fall. "I always thought that eventually we would be able to work it out, but it's over. Did she ever care about me?"

"I am sure that she still cares about you Naomi." Seven said saying it more than feeling it herself. "She just does not feel ready to be such a large part of your life."

"Naomi if it helps, we all come from broken homes, and I can tell you that parents never stop caring for their children. Some part of Samantha will always love you, and eventually that part is going to get bigger until she's ready to be part of you life again." B'Elanna said, hoping that her words would have some kind of impact. She didn't know what those words would have meant to her when her father left.

"It still hurts." Naomi said with a quiet sigh. "I guess I always knew on some level that I would forgive her one day."

"I know it does Naomi." B'Elanna said as she hugged her as well. "The pain isn't going to go away over night, just remember that none of this is your fault."

Janeway sighed heavily as she all but fell into her captain's seat beside Chakotay. "I just got Carey's assessment of the Socadan upgrades."

"I'm guessing it isn't good news." Chakotay noted the tired tone in her voice.

"The whole thing was completely pointless. We've completely alienated Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi for nothing. Carey tells me that none of the upgrades can be saved, and it's going to take months to properly adapt them to Voyager, after we repair the damage that's already been done."

"Well all we have to do is get B'Elanna to look them over, I'm sure she can cut down the time for that." Chakotay said hopefully.

"This really isn't the best time to push it with them. We're going to need their ship to guard us while we remove the upgrades. I hate to say it but without them we're sitting ducks out here." Janeway was finally able to admit it.

"Captain, they can't live out of that ship forever. It has got to be cramped in there. It's only a little larger than the delta flyer." Chakotay said. He was very uncomfortable with the idea of B'Elanna and Seven having so much control over the welfare of Voyager.

"They seem to have been doing just fine for the past couple of months." Janeway said. She had also been thinking along those lines originally, but she eventually had to face facts. What ever they had on that ship of theirs made it possible to use only a small fraction of Voyagers resources, and it was most likely for convenience than anything else.

"Do you think they'd give us a tour of their ship?" Tom interrupted hopefully. He still hadn't given up on his crush for Seven, and was more than curious about the powerful little ship sitting in the hangar.

"It is highly unlikely." Tuvok stated. He hated to admit it but he too wanted to examine Legaia. The fact that it was such a powerful ship could not be contested. Knowing about all off its systems would be extremely useful for a security officer.

"They can't stay mad at us forever." Harry said hopefully. "Eventually they have to forgive us right?"

"I hope so, because without the upgrades we are not going to reach the alpha quadrant as soon as we thought. Instead of a year it's going to be closer to nine years." Janeway already worked out the calculations when they were informed about the upgrades.

"I must also point out that we still have no medical data about Seven, and B'Elanna. What we could learn from them would be invaluable." Tuvok said.

"We're going to have put that on the back burner for a while." Chakotay said. "Seven's in charge of sickbay now, she's the only one qualified to give medical examinations, and I don't think she'd want to help us out on this one."

'Reconnaissance data from Borg Sphere 2713 correlated. Vessels identified: Voyager - explorer class, Star Fleet. Ragnor – battle cruiser, flag ship, Socadan. Legaia – unknown, unknown, insufficient data.'

Two months ago The Borg detected a battle between three ships. Normally it wasn't a cause for concern but the energy signatures on all three ships were very large, especially the smallest ship.

A scan revealed that all three ships were of extreme interest to the Borg. Voyager was the last known location of Seven of nine tertiary adjunct to unimatrix 01. Ragnor was the flag ship of the Socadan, one of the few races to offer true resistance to the Borg, and Legaia was completely alien to them, they had never come across a ship even remotely like Legaia. Both Legaia and Voyager were prime candidates for assimilation.

A scan of Legaia revealed the most interesting data however, even more important that the fact that it was an unknown species. Two beings on the ship were composed of almost entirely Omega molecules, stable Omega molecules.

The Borg had theorized that the two individuals were B'Elanna Torres, chief engineer of Voyager, and Seven of nine, Astrometrics officer. This had further lead them to the conclusion that it was Voyager that had developed this new and powerful ship.

"You have been busy Seven of Nine." The Borg Queen thought aloud. "The information that you have will be very useful to the Borg."

"Borg cubes 1121, 1302, 987, and 1132 begin search patters for enterprise ship: Voyager, top priority, disregard all other current missions."

To Be Continued…

On a side note though I would really like it if this part could break the 100 reviews barrier, so far there's eight, only 92 left to go.

Thanks for reviewing: Linkinparkgundam, Devaro, Shawn Provoncha, Molly, Spaceman 546.

Goddess Anjanee: thanks, and if you thought the story line for one was twisted you haven't seen anything yet.

Halie: Thank you. I hope I can finish this part a little faster than the first one.

Crashcart9: Well, Seven's going to become better at it as the story goes on, and her feelings about the crew of Voyager lead to her bad bedside manner more than anything else.


	3. Battles to Fight

First off I really want to thank HW, and Daniel for doing all the beta wok for me on this chapter. It really helped me to get a better understanding of the chapter and look at it from different angles, and the fact that my grammar and spelling really aren't the best. Pretty much spelling and grammar check on word is all I got.

Please Review 

Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection

Chapter Two

"Captain, can I speak to you in the ready room?" Chakotay asked as he walked onto the bridge with a troubled look on his face.

"Certainly," Janeway said as she immediately picked up on the man's tone. What ever he had to say, it sounded important.

"Tom you have the bridge." Janeway said as she stood up and followed Chakotay into the ready room and closed the door.

"Take a look at this." Chakotay said as he placed a data pad in front of Janeway.

Janeway briefly skimmed through the document before her eyes widened. "Samantha wants to give custody of Naomi to B'Elanna and Seven?" She asked, not expecting this turn of events.

"I was just as surprised when I talked to her." Chakotay agreed. "Now they have no reason to stay here at all."

"This couldn't have come at a worse time." Janeway sighed, something she had been doing a lot recently. "Is there any way for us to stop this?" She asked, not really expecting to hear a plausible scenario.

"Not without alienating them more than we already have." Chakotay said. "But how long can we allow this to go on for? We walk around them on eggshells now, and they have far too much control over what happens on this ship for me to be comfortable with." He said with a tinge of anger in his voice.

"I don't like it anymore than you do." Janeway said her voice rising as well. "Do you know how difficult it was to ask them for their help with the Socadan when they could have just left us to die? I find myself making all the decisions about my own ship based on how I can stay on their good side the longest."

"Then why do you do it?" Chakotay asked. "We've survived out here on our own for a while now, I'm sure that if push came to shove we could hold our own."

"When push came to shove Seven and B'Elanna were both here." Janeway reminded him in a tired voice. "We have to put our own beliefs to the side for the welfare of our crew."

"I'm sorry Captain." Chakotay said, realizing the tone that he was using wasn't helping the situation. "We do need them."

"Did Carey tell you how long it would be until all the upgrades are removed?" Janeway changed the subject as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"They're going to be finished in the next twenty hours. He has crews working round the clock." Chakotay said. "How many of the upgrades do you think that B'Elanna's going to be able to save?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. We may leave this situation with none of the upgrades available to us, but at least we were able to get this far with the upgrades. A few years ago nine years until we reach the Alpha quadrant would have been something to celebrate."

"I suppose you're right." Chakotay agreed reluctantly, but truth be told, going from believing that you would get home in one year, to have it turn into nine wasn't good. Neelix would have his work cut out for him.

"It may not even be nine years." Janeway said hopefully. "Who knows? We might be able to find a way to get the engine upgrades on line sooner. It's only nine years if we can't get any of the upgrades to work."

Seven had just completed her bio-scan of herself and was looking through the data while B'Elanna was helping Naomi with her homework.

"B'Elanna." Seven called as she sifted through the data. "I have found something very interesting."

"What is it Seven?" B'Elanna asked as she leaned in over Seven's shoulder and took a look.

"Do you remember our current data about the Omega molecule, the amount of energy that it puts out?" Seven asked.

"Sure, it was supposed to a phenomenal amount of power just from one molecule." B'Elanna remembered.

"My body is teaming with the molecules. At present 43.873 of my body is comprised of Omega molecules and rising slowly. I am unable to calculate the exact rate of change, there are still some unknown variables but I believe that Omega will eventually comprise 100 of my body." Seven said a little surprised at all the different processes that her body was performing.

"Wait a minute Seven." B'Elanna said as she thought over what Seven had just said. "If your body is replaced with Omega molecules, then you'll just be a bunch of molecules. What are we going to do if it goes too far and you turn into one giant molecule?" She finished in alarm.

"Forgive me B'Elanna. I am not explaining it correctly." Seven said as she thought about it. "All the data we have on the Omega molecule suggests that it is just that, a molecule, when in fact it is so much more. Think of it more along the lines of a stem cell. It has been duplicating itself and replacing my existing cells. So far it has begun to replace my bone, muscle, blood, and skin cells with almost the exact same outward appearance as my normal cells."

"Then the same thing is probably going to happen to me." B'Elanna deduced, starting to feel worried. The changes she was going through were not the same as Seven's. She had no idea what would happen to her when she reached the same stage that Seven was at now.

"I do not believe that Omega will harm you B'Elanna." Seven said as she picked up on B'Elanna's worry and hugged her. "We will not have our minds replaced with others when all of our cells are replaced with Omega. If that is all that Omega wanted it could have used anyone. I believe that it is our minds that are necessary, and that Omega is at least partially sentient, and will not make any changes that we would not approve of." She hoped that it was enough to ease B'Elanna's concerns. Seven had to admit that a lot of what she had said had to be taken on faith.

"Pretty soon we might even be able to find out how I was able to merge with Omega as well." She said hopefully, as she realized that Seven was most probably right about everything.

"I believe that we should complete your scan soon as well." Seven agreed, as B'Elanna kissed the top of her head and let her go.

"Seven, can you bring up a magnified sample of your blood?" B'Elanna asked, curious to see the results.

Seven did as she was asked with a few key strokes. They were both shocked by what they saw.

Instead of the normal red blood that they had expected, they saw a silvery white liquid.

"It's the same color as your light when you use you abilities." B'Elanna said as she leaned even further to get a closer look. "Magnify section G7?" She requested.

"It is a nanoprobe." Seven said in surprise. "I had assumed that they were removed after I merged with Omega."

"They seem really advanced, Seven." B'Elanna pointed out. "Are they the same ones you got from the Borg?"

"No," Seven said as she began to retrieve data about the nanoprobe. "It is considerable more advanced, and is constructed of organic circuitry, the same as my remaining implants. They are also 73.349 more powerful than my previous ones, and are currently in the process of converting my body to Omega molecules." Seven added, even more surprised by what they had discovered.

"Do you know what the nanoprobes are going to do after they've finished converting your body to Omega molecules?" B'Elanna asked. "When they're finished you're going to have a lot of excess nanoprobes."

"I am unsure." Seven replied. "I believe that they will either deactivate themselves, or remain active to assist with my energy based abilities."

"With this amount of data, it's going to take months just to figure out what's happening to our bodies, let alone how to control our new abilities." B'Elanna said. She had been hoping for some answers, but they had only ended up with even more questions.

"Perhaps we should scan you as well, B'Elanna. I can then upload the data to Legaia. Perhaps she will be able to correlate the data faster than us." Seven suggested. As fast as she was able to process data, there was no way she could do this fast enough for her.

"Good idea Seven." B'Elanna agreed as she lay down on the bio-bed that Seven had been using for her scan.

"One moment B'Elanna," Seven said as she looked into the optical port. Immediately a white beam of light connected with the port, and small to medium sized balls of light traveled along the beam and into Seven's eye.

Seven finished downloading the data B'Elanna's scan started, and she waited patiently for it to complete.

"That was so neat." Naomi said. She had looked up from her work to see Seven interacting with the optical port. "Does it hurt?"

"The feeling is not altogether an unpleasant one, simply odd." Seven said as she thought about it. "Have you ever had a muscle twitch that last between two and four seconds?" she asked.

"Sure," Naomi said. "It feels kind of nice."

"I have a similar feeling in my head as I upload and download information." Seven said.

Just as Seven and Naomi finished talking B'Elanna's scan completed and she hopped off the bio-bed. Seven immediately downloaded the data, which they did not bother to save to Voyager's computer core.

"Let's go back to Legaia." Naomi suggested. "She's probably getting bored all by herself."

The hybrids had found out a few weeks ago that when Legaia became bored she would not stay idle for long. By the time they had all returned Legaia was ready to take off and have a quick flight around the system they were currently in. Both Seven and B'Elanna had to promise they would go for a flight at least three times a week before Legaia settled down.

As the three hybrids entered the corridor the ship shook slightly, which was immediately followed by red alert lights, and claxon.

They immediately turned around and headed towards the bridge. Whatever was going on, the bridge was the best place to go to find out.

The hybrids entered the bridge, to see the crew in a heated battle with two enemy ships.

The ships were a little strange in design. It was as if each ship was cut from a perfect circle. It was a triangular ship with the warp nacelles on the curved stern of the ship. The ship had a smooth flow to it, until it reached the edge of the triangle where it met a sharp 90 degree angle leading to the sides of the ship.

"Seven, do you recognize the ships?" Janeway asked, as soon as she realized who had walked onto the bridge.

"They call themselves the D'Larma, the Borg have designated them as species 137. They have been decided unworthy of assimilation. Their brain patterns are too erratic for complex and unified thought. They are also seemingly incapable of creating their own technologies. The ships that they have designed are made to be compatible with a wide variety of technologies, which they steal from any species they come across." Seven finished her mini-report to the rest of the bridge.

This was by no means a new situation to them. They had come across many species in the same situation. It was only their sheer number of ships that made them any kind of threat, and of course the liberal use of technologies that they did have.

"We're going to engage them in Legaia." B'Elanna said as she looked at the view screen for a few seconds longer.

It seemed like the deflector dish was being targeted, and they were getting close to disabling it. Without a working deflector they couldn't go to warp, which meant that they were planning on stripping Voyager, and wanted to take their time.

Janeway could only nod as another explosion rocked the ship.

B'Elanna quickly pulled out one of the communicators that Seven had designed for them. It seemed a little big by comparison to the comm. badges that Voyager used, but it was capable of a variety of other jobs.

"Legaia, beam us up."

A few of he crew watched as a white pillar of light enveloped each hybrid before shooting upwards and disappearing entirely with the hybrids inside. It was very different from any teleportation they had seen previously.

The lead ship, Galtia, watched as a significantly smaller ship left the hangar of their quarry.

The D'Larma was a race that looked very similar to humanity. They shared most of the same skin tones, hair colors, and basic body types. One of the few things that set them apart where the feelers on each side of their head, a little above the eye.

"Ignore the smaller ship." the Captain said. "They know our victory is imminent, so they flee, or offer us a distraction so that they may regroup."

To the surprise of the Captain and the rest of the crew the smaller ship didn't run. Instead, it set a collision course with them.

"Captain, should we engage them?" The helmsman asked as the small ship drew closer.

"No." The Captain said adamantly. "They are no match for our shields. We will deal with them after our main target."

Legaia cut the distance between the two ships easily and began to open fire on the bridge, which was considered an insult to the D'Larma.

"Take out the small ship." The Captain shouted in rage. Now when he had his ship repaired he would have to do it amidst the gaze of any other Captain who would almost certainly be looking down on him because of it.

The Galtia quickly turned to fight the smaller ship while the secondary ship, the Astago, still continued to fire on Voyager.

Legaia skillfully dodged the enemy ship's torpedoes and phasers, only allowing the Galtia to graze its shields as it let loose a volley of torpedoes at the weapons ports and bridge for good measure.

"They dare to fire upon us again?" The Captain shouted as the ship was rocked back and forth, landing him on the floor. "Prepare to ram them!"

The crew knew that their Captain was getting desperate when he gave that order. That little ship was just far too maneuverable in comparison with their ship and conventional attacks didn't seem to have any effect.

Even as they prepared to ram, the smaller ship seemed to be two steps ahead of them. It spun around and preformed a dive releasing another volley of torpedoes to the unprotected deflector dish and nacelles as it avoided them again.

The mighty Galtia, as the crew sometimes referred to it, was loosing quite badly to the admittedly formidable smaller ship. While they were showing obvious battle scars, the little ship's paint wasn't even scratched.

Suddenly the unthinkable happened. "Captain, our weapons are offline." The security officer shouted in panic.

"Our engines are almost gone as well sir," said the second in command. "I suggest we retreat."

"Now that we know what we're up against lets send them packing." Janeway said confidently.

"Captain, Legaia has attacked the lead ship. I advise we open fire on the secondary." Tuvok said calmly.

"Agreed, Tuvok target the secondary ship's weapons, and send a few phaser blasts to their engines to keep them guessing." Janeway said as she remembered the battle strategy they had used on the Socadan flag ship.

A full spread of torpedoes impacted on the shields of the secondary ship, bringing them down to almost nothing. It seemed that the shield technology that enemy had acquired was not designed to withstand such an attack and was visibly buckling.

Most of the crew was sent to the floor in the next moment as the enemy ship landed a couple of torpedoes against their warp nacelles reminding them that the enemy even though using stolen and inferior technology was still a formidable foe.

Janeway couldn't help but glance over at the Legaia through the view screen. It was like watching poetry in motion. Just as she had thought the Legaia was going to be rammed it made a seemingly impossible rolling dive as it fired upon the main ship, causing quite a bit of damage. Janeway couldn't help but be impressed. The Legaia seemed to grow more powerful with each battle.

"Captain the lead ship is breaking off." Harry said feeling a little relived.

"Keep firing on their weapons array until they retreat." Janeway said, not wanting to take any chances.

It seemed to have taken a little longer for the secondary ship to notice that the main ship had left because it continued to fire until Legaia also opened fire on them, and jumped to warp when they realized they were out gunned.

The only other possible explanation was that it hadn't wanted to give up on the battle until it was absolutely sure it couldn't win.

"Captain, Legaia is hailing us." Harry said from his station.

"Put it on screen." Janeway said as she leaned back in her chair and straightened herself up a bit.

"How did you manage?" B'Elanna asked as her face filled the view screen.

"Some minor hull repairs on the deflector dish but the shields took the brunt of the attack." Janeway said, with a hint of pride. It wasn't everyday that Voyager was able to walk away from a battle with only minor repairs needed.

Janeway didn't need to ask how well Legaia did. It was plainly obvious by what she had seen on the view screen.

"Are there any injured?" Seven asked as she stood beside B'Elanna.

"No, there wasn't a single injury report," Janeway confirmed. "Do you think that they'll be back with more ships?"

"It is highly unlikely that the D'Larma will acquire new ships. It would be giving away a trophy, and would make them seem weak to their fellow hunters. They usually only hunt in packs; however the two ships we fought may not have been the only ones in the pack" Seven explained using what she knew from her Borg knowledge.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the D'Larma?" Janeway asked. "Do you think that their other ships are going to be more powerful?" She really didn't want to get into another battle with the D'Larma, now that the enemy knew of their defenses and weapons.

"I believe that we should discuss this aboard Voyager." Seven said as she moved to the rear of Legaia.

"We'll meet you in the ready room in half an hour." Janeway agreed, giving them ample time to start whatever minor repairs had to be done to their ship.

A lone figure stood in Astrometrics, taking a chance on using the enhanced communication array one last time before it was removed.

"Sir, I have some concerns about Seven of Nine, the former Borg drone, and B'Elanna Torres." He said with a frown.

"You have nothing to worry about." Admiral Neechev said in a calming voice. "Captain Janeway informed us months ago that she was no longer a threat, and has given me her word that she is not a danger to the crew."

"With all due respect sir, the Captain has not told you everything." he said.

"Starfleet does not look well upon officers that go behind their captain's backs." Neechev said in a warning tone.

"I realize that sir but this is far too important, and potentially dangerous to be left alone."

"Very well," Neechev said with a sigh. "What is this about?"

"Seven of Nine was experimented on by a group of aliens, as best as we can tell she has been altered on the genetic level, using the Omega molecule." He said in a flat tone.

"The Omega molecule!" Neechev shouted in alarm. "Where did you learn about that? Only Captains are privy to that information."

"We discovered an alien race that was experimenting with the Omega molecule, trying to find a way to stabilize it. Captain Janeway decided to inform us of it so we could deal with the threat together." He informed him knowing that it would be at least another month before Starfleet began to read that Captains log.

"I suppose it could not be helped." Neechev conceded. "You are after all alone out there, but more importantly how were they able to do this and why wasn't Starfleet informed of this immediately?"

"We are not sure how it was possible. Seven has not divulged that information to anyone. Starfleet was not informed because of our situation." He said.

"What situation?" Neechev asked.

"We have to remove all of the enhancements. They have been causing system conflicts that have been compounding on each other for the past month. They have come to the point where they are affecting all the core systems. In addition Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres have acquired a remarkably powerful ship. They have the ability to leave whenever they wish. For the time being our continued survival is dependent upon them."

"How powerful could this ship be?" Neechev asked in wonder. No normal ship of that size could stand toe to toe with Voyager, especially if it was only a fraction of the size. They had only begun to create ships like that, the Defiant being there best work to data.

"It is currently more powerful than Voyager, and a deciding factor in any battles we enter."

"You were right to tell Starfleet of these developments." Neechev commended. "I want you to covertly gather as much information you can about this. You have the full backing of Starfleet command. It is imperative that we study this subject."

"I can not be sure but I believe that B'Elanna Torres has also been affected by the Omega molecule. She has recently been able to do things that are at the very least suspect."

"I was under the impression that Seven of Nine was the only one that was experimented on." Neechev said with a frown.

"She was, but B'Elanna Torres has shown abilities similar to that of Seven, in the way that she uses her abilities."

"Very well, gather the information discreetly. Only tell the rest of your crew about Starfleets position if you are discovered ."

Seven and B'Elanna walked into the ready room to find that they were not the last ones to arrive. Tom Paris's seat was empty as well.

"Sorry I'm late." Tom said as he rushed in a few moments after Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi. "I had to finish looking over our new flight path." He said quickly as he sat down, catching odd glances from the rest of the senior officers, since he could have just as easily looked over the flight path after the meeting, instead of rushing back and forth like that.

"Well Seven since you know the most about what's going on, why don't you fill us in?" Janeway asked.

"The D'Larma will more than likely attempt another attack as soon as their ships are repaired, and they have deduced a battle strategy that they believe will work." Seven informed them.

"They really don't seem like too much of a threat." Tom said confidently. "We beat them easily enough this time, and only took minor damage."

"Their ships weapons and shields could easily be replaced. They were only carrying what they call light weapons and armor. They do it to conserve energy while searching for suitable ships. When they return they will be using heavy weapons and armor. That battle will not be as easy as the previous one. There is also the fact that there might be more than two ships. It is very likely that they have another two, possibly even three ships with them next time. It would be difficult to take on more than two at a time." Seven said in a calm voice, unlike the rest of the crew that had paled considerably over the news.

"Why were they not with them for the first attack?" Tuvok asked reasonably.

"They probably split up so they search a wider area." B'Elanna guessed.

"How long do we have until they come back?" Harry asked in alarm.

"If I had to guess I would say about ten hours, fifteen hours max, and I'm guessing they probably have repair docks somewhere if they can interchange parts." B'Elanna said, her new tactical way of thinking showing.

"Can we prepare Voyager for a battle like that in time?" Chakotay asked, differing to B'Elanna as well.

"No, all the upgrades to the ship are almost removed. Voyager doesn't have enough fire power, and neither does Legaia." B'Elanna said as she remembered the data that Seven had uploaded about it to Legaia.

"Maybe we can find a place to lay low for a while." Chakotay suggested.

"I do not believe that idea will work." Seven said, shooting down the idea.

"It worked well enough in the Maquis." Chakotay defended. "Eventually they'll get bored and give up the search."

"D'Larma will spend the rest of their lives searching for us if necessary." Seven denied. "They are not in the habit of giving up."

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Chakotay demanded. "We can't fight them, we can't hide from them...we don't even know where they are."

"We must reach this destination within ten hours." Seven said as she brought up a map of the area they were in.

"What's there?" Paris asked curiously. "And how is it going to help us against the D'Larma?"

"This is the location for the home world of the D'Rama, Borg designation species 138. Approximately 300 years ago they were considered the same race as the D'Larma. It was thought to be a massive social and biological experiment. The D'Larma concentrated on warfare, and tactics, while the D'Rama concentrated on peaceful exploration, much like Starfleet.

Unfortunately, due to the corruption of the leaders of the D'Larma, they spiraled into a stage similar to that of the dark ages on earth. They have still not recovered from it, and free thinking is usually punished. That is why they have made so little technological advancement.

The D'Rama have advanced their technology significantly in the last 300 years however. Due to feelings of jealousy on the parts of the D'Larma they have been at war for the past century.

If we can reach D'Rama space in time we will be protected. The D'Larma have not discovered how to penetrate the D'Rama planetary defense grid, and will not for many years to come." Seven finished her explanation to everyone.

"How long is it going to take to reach the D'Rama?" Janeway asked. She knew that she was loosing ground to the hybrids by not taking control of the meeting from the beginning but they didn't have any other options.

"At maximum warp Voyager will reach D'Rama space in 13.5 hours." Seven said.

"Will that be enough time?" Chakotay asked. "B'Elanna said that they could be ready in ten hours."

"They're almost certainly going to be ready back here in ten hours. The further we get from here the better. They'll probably catch up with us just before we reach D'Rama space so it's going to be tight." B'Elanna warned, hoping that it would get them moving as soon as possible.

To Be Continued…

Skye: I know that the Samantha thing is a little abrupt and I only vaguely alluded to it in the first part, but I will go more in depth into it in later chapters. Laying the ground work for part two is taking a little longer than I thought. Instead of there just being one story for Seven, there's going to be multiple stories also going on for the other charcters.

Richard Shultz: Well it was always the chief engineer that checked to make sure the technologies could merge properly. Without one... As for the technology working in the short run but not the long run, I hope I explained it better in this chapter.

Lt. Tina: I guess I did drop the whole adoption thing out of the blue. It will definitely be explained more in depth as the story progresses.

Melinda: Thanks, and for future chapters I'm going to try to keep them above 4000 words, and possibly get them to 5000 words a chapter.

Sonja: The doctor is also one of the characters that I still have to lay the ground work for, because he is definitely making a reappearance in future chapters.

Albedon: I don't want to say who it is right away but in the next few chapters the hybrids are going to forgive someone.

Goddess Anjanee: Thanks, It's definitely going to be more chaotic, especially since multiple stories for multiple characters are going to be going on in the background instead of just one main story that everything else feed in to like the first part.

Devaro: Well right now they wouldn't be a match for even one of the Q's, but they can definitely hold their own.

Thanks for Reviewing: Shawn Provancha, Just a fan, Caren H

Once again Please Review, I usually get the chapters out faster with more reviews to inspire me.


	4. Battles to Fight II

Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection

Chapter Three

As soon as Legaia had entered the shuttle bay Voyager had jumped to warp. They were affecting a few minor repairs as they were going. They needed to buy as much time as possible. The D'Larma would be coming at them in force, and in larger groups with more powerful weapons they were deadly. One of the few things about them the other races of the delta quadrant both feared and respected was their ability to hunt in packs. It was as if they were of one mind when it came to battle.

Voyager was on red alert as they made their way closer to D'Rama space. The sensors were being watched carefully on the off chance that the D'Larma would appear earlier than they expected.

Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi had entered the bridge as soon as Legaia had landed. The next few hours were going to be the most difficult for the crew of Voyager. Waiting for something you new was going to happen, just not when was the most nerve racking part.

"Report ensign," Janeway said as she turned to face Harry Kim.

"All repairs have been completed. No sign of the D'Larma or anyone else for that matter." Harry reported.

"Shouldn't there be a few other species around here?" Janeway asked curiously.

"Once an area of space has been known to have D'Rama raiders searching it most species flee the area." Seven informed them.

"This information would have been helpful to us earlier." Chakotay said before Janeway could stop him. "Why didn't you inform any of us about it? As the senior officers of Voyager we had a right to know." Chakotay still wished to prove that the hybrids didn't call the shots on Voyager and show them that they were not in charge.

"You asked me for information pertaining to the D'Larma, which I gave you. You had never requested any information on how other species would react to the D'Larma. I have knowledge of thousands of delta quadrant species but not the months necessary to list them all or what they would do." Seven said before B'Elanna could be angered on her behalf. "The only way that you could have current information about the situation is if you were to contact the Borg. Perhaps you could make a bargain with them as well?" Seven said, putting Chakotay neatly back in his place. She had not liked his tone or his insinuation they would withhold that kind of information.

"Well surely you could have told us about this." Chakotay said, deciding not to get into Seven's latter comment. "Even the knowledge that they could be in the area would have been helpful."

"Open your eyes Chakotay." B'Elanna stepped in this time. "There is always a species in the area that wants to harm us or strip Voyager of all its key components. Seven didn't say anything because it was just assumed, and if she tried to tell you about all the dangerous species that might be in the area at any given time it could take days just to scratch the surface."

"I'm picking something up on sensors." Harry said as he preempted the argument that was about to begin. "I'm not entirely sure but I think it's the D'Larma."

"Put it on screen." Janeway ordered. "It's been less that an hour how could they have caught up with as that quickly?" She thought out loud.

"They didn't." B'Elanna deduced as she looked closely at the ship. "This isn't one of the ships that we faced."

"You mean there are more of them out there?" Janeway asked.

"They are not of the same pack as the last two ships we faced." Seven said as she looked at the markings on the new ship. "It is unlikely that they even know of our earlier battle with the other pack. Legaia concentrated a round of fire on the bridge of he last ship. It was an insult to their hunting skills. It would not be something they would tell others of."

"Okay, so now instead of one pack chasing us we have two, and if we have to drop out of warp to fight them, we only give time for the other pack to catch up with us?" Paris asked.

"It would seem so." Tuvok agreed.

"They haven't detected us yet." B'Elanna said as she stared at the enemy ship for a few seconds longer.

"How can you tell?" Harry asked curiously.

"Because they haven't attacked us yet, they haven't even changed course, or increased speed. It I had to guess I would say they are still at cruising speed." B'Elanna added.

"We are most likely out of their sensor range." Tuvok deduced.

"That's going to change pretty soon if we don't do something. With both our present flight paths we're going to pass right by each other pretty soon." Paris said.

"We have to fight them then." Chakotay said. He was eager to prove that Voyager didn't need Legaia's help to win.

"If you stop to fight them, you will allow the other pack to catch up with us, and increase the odds in their favor even more." B'Elanna said, never taking her eyes off the enemy ship.

"If you can think of a better idea I'd like to hear it." Chakotay said heatedly. He didn't appreciate having his ideas shot down, especially by nothing more than the civilian head of engineering.

"Seven, if you had to guess how far do you thing that their sensors extend?" B'Elanna asked, ignoring Chakotay, which only seemed to annoy him more.

"Judging by their current armaments, at most a radius of 50 000 kilometers." Seven asked as she considered it for a moment.

B'Elanna walked to one of the consoles and changed the view screen to on overhead view. After a few key strokes a large red circle surrounded the enemy ship.

"Alter course to avoid the red circle, as long as we remain blind to their sensors they won't have any reason to change course. We're going to loose a little time using an indirect route but it beats fighting two packs at once." B'Elanna said as she moved to stand beside Seven and Naomi again. She had very quickly become used to her new knowledge of tactics and was using it the best of her ability.

"Aren't their going to be more of them out there?" Paris said as he reduced speed. It was impossible to maneuver Voyager as precisely as needed at maximum warp.

"There's going to be at least one more in the area." B'Elanna guessed as long as we see them before they see us we should be fine.

"What about the other pack?" Harry asked. "Can we just stay out of their sensor range as well?" He asked hopefully.

"No, they have probably already figured out where we're going anyway. They're going to get there using the most direct course to the D'Rama home world." B'Elanna said.

"Another ship just came up on sensors. It's another D'Larma ship." Harry informed the crew as another red circle formed around the enemy ship, making what they had to do twice as difficult.

"It is likely that there are at least two more ships further ahead." Seven guessed. So far all the D'Larma they had met moved in groups of two, while they searched.

The next few hours were tenuous at best as Voyager avoided three enemy ships. They were all well aware of the fact that if even one ship detected them it would be the same as letting the entire pack no where they were.

"I still haven't detected the fourth ship." Harry said, breaking the silence that had descended over the bridge. _'We should have seen it by now.'_

"We already passed them." B'Elanna supplied. "It was close to the first ship, just out of our sensor range."

"How did you know?" Tuvok asked. "If we could not detect them, then it is obvious that they could not detect us."

"I just know, keep your present course and don't worry about it." B'Elanna dismissed as she stared out at the view screen again.

"B'Elanna, may I speak to you privately?" Seven asked as another moment of silence passed over the crew. She knew that more questions would be asked, and leaving now would stop most of them, at least for the time being.

"Sure Seven," B'Elanna said as she, Naomi, and Seven left the bridge.

"B'Elanna are you sure that it was wise to mention that?" Seven referred to B'Elanna's comments about the D'Larma ship.

"I'm sorry Seven it just slipped out." B'Elanna said as the trio walked towards the shuttle bay.

"How did you even know about it anyway?" Naomi asked curiously.

"I don't know I could just feel it." B'Elanna said as she thought about it herself. "All I'm really sure is that I know it's true."

"Did you feel the same thing Seven?" B'Elanna asked. Seven didn't seem all that surprised about it either.

"I have as well. It is strange. This is the first time that I have been able to use this ability." Seven confirmed.

"It kind of feel like I picked something up, then used it touch something else, then used it to touch the other ship. The further away we get from it, the more things I have to touch before I can feel the ship." B'Elanna tried to explain. "The feeling just gets weaker and weaker as I use more things to touch it with."

"It is the same way that I have felt as well." Seven agreed. "I am able to feel basic shapes and know that there are living things inside, but that is all."

The trio entered Legaia to find her still correlating the data that Seven had given her.

"How far were you able to get so far?" B'Elanna asked curiously.

"I've got 48.473 of the data correlated. I'll most likely have the rest finished in another 12 hours." Legaia informed them as it brought up an image of how far she had gotten on the view screen.

"Have you detected the other D'Larma ships?" Seven asked.

"I have, we passed four of them already, and the pack that we had encountered earlier has just entered my sensor range. At their present speed they will intercept us in four hours. Guessing by their flight path they're taking the most direct route. If something doesn't change soon they'll reach D'Rama space before we do." Legaia confirmed.

"Legaia to Voyager," B'Elanna spoke into the view screen. "We have a problem. The D'Larma we fought earlier are going to be here in four hours. We may be able to stay out of sensor range but they're going to make it to D'Rama space before we do."

"We'll just increase speed then," Paris said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We passed the four D'Larma ships already."

"Look at the four ships again." Seven instructed. "They have finished searching that area of space and are moving forward."

"Seven's right Captain, if they keep using that search pattern they're going to go to the edge of D'Rama space." Harry said, as he looked at his screen. "They're probably doing it on purpose. They probably think that any species that want to escape them would try to make it there." Harry deduced.

"There aren't too many options left now. If we jump to high warp now we're going to have set the most direct course to the D'Larma, otherwise the first pack will beat us there. When we jump to high warp it's going to take us right through the sensor range of two of the ships." B'Elanna said as she laid down they're two options. Neither one seemed very favorable because they both ended in a direct confrontation with both packs.

"I suggest we jump to high warp now." Seven said. "At the very least we will be able to disable a few of the enemy ships before they realize what has happened."

"You want us to go into battle at maximum warp?" Chakotay asked. "Our maneuverability is going to be severely compromised."

"Considering the situation the risk is acceptable." B'Elanna said. "I agree with Seven, Legaia and Voyager are going to have to jump to warp and disable the two ships we pass. I've looked over the data on the last two ships and they have a weak point on their deflector arrays. They don't have enough shield emitters, two photon torpedoes and the shields in that area will fail, and a third torpedo will destroy their arrays."

"You actually believe that we can get three shots off each before they notice us?" Chakotay asked. He knew the odds of something like that actually working were slim at best.

"If you can think of a better idea I'd like to hear it, otherwise the longer we wait the lower our chances of success." B'Elanna said. There was a time she would have been angry about being second guessed like this, but know she didn't let her annoyance show.

"Besides, their shields aren't charged for battle now, this our best shot at getting the drop on them.

"Can I assume that you will engage them regardless of what we decide?" Janeway asked.

"We're going to take the ship on the left." B'Elanna confirmed. "If you decide to go into battle with us I suggest you redirect all available power to your rear shields after we get passed them."

"We'll take the ship on the right." Janeway agreed to the plan begrudgingly. It really was the best option they had at the moment.

Legaia closed the link as the shuttle bay opened and they exited Voyager. With this many ships it was hard to say how long they would survive if at all, but if they did both ships would in all likelihood need considerable repairs.

"Alright Legaia target the ship on the left. Aim for the deflector array. We only have one shot at this before they figure out what's going on." B'Elanna instructed as they jumped to high warp, closely followed by Voyager.

"Target locked." Legaia said as it brought up an image of the enemy ship, "firing photon torpedoes."

Legaia didn't wait to see if the torpedoes did the appropriate amount of damage. It jumped to high warp leaving the three hybrids to watch the view screen and confirm the hit.

"It worked!" B'Elanna said with a smile. "The D'Larma ship is out of commission."

"How did Voyager fair?" Seven asked.

The view screen immediately changed to Voyager and the ship they were facing. They had also taken out their target but instead of moving off immediately after firing they had waited to make sure they hit their target. The paid for it with a couple of blasts from the enemy phasers but most of it was taken by their shields before they took off.

"Legaia reduce speed until Voyager is caught up with us." B'Elanna instructed. They both would need to be in close proximity to each other when the D'Larma figured out what happed and started chasing them.

"The remaining D'Larma ships are pursuing us, and the first pack has most likely deduced our location. They have altered course, and will reach us in approximately two hours." Legaia calculated as Voyager caught up with them.

"Match Voyager's speed Legaia," B'Elanna instructed. "We may need the extra power later." She said knowing that Legaia could easily move faster than Voyager and hold that speed for prolonged periods of time.

Legaia reduced speed as it began to calculate all the data she had about the D'Larma. "We must disable the remaining two ships as quickly as possible. They are only using light armor and heavy weapons. If we can avoid a direct hit from their phasers or torpedoes we can survive relatively unharmed."

"Hail Voyager." B'Elanna instructed. Legaia immediately activated its view screen to show the bridge of Voyager.

"The other two D'Larma ships are chasing us." Janeway pointed out as the view screen activated.

"I've noticed." B'Elanna said dryly. "We were able to scan the ships. They're packing light armor and heavy weapons. I think our best chance to get out of this is to deal with both of them now and do whatever repairs we can before we have to deal with the first pack."

"Deal with them now?" Janeway asked. "In case you haven't noticed they took our shields down to 56 with one hit from their phasers. I don't even want to think about what they can do to us if we give them a chance to fire their torpedoes.

"Their shields are light, which means they can take damage the same as us, and the way things are going we aren't going to survive a fight with four ships." B'Elanna pointed out.

"We can still try to outrun them. We still have some time before the first pack catches up with us." Janeway pointed out.

"The first pack has already deduced our location and have altered course. They will arrive in less than two hours." Seven said, repeating what Legaia had said earlier.

"Two hours?" Paris asked. "And they're going to be tougher than the two we're already running from?"

"Correct." Seven said.

"What are we going to do?" Paris asked. "Do you think that we have enough in the engines to stay out of their weapons range at least?"

"No, Voyager can't maintain maximum warp long enough to reach the D'Rama. You can't go much faster than cruising speed or you'll use up all the power and be sitting ducks for when the D'Larma catch up with you." B'Elanna said. If Voyager still had the alien technology from the Socadan this would have been a lot easier.

"You keep saying that 'we' can't go fast enough." Chakotay pointed out. "Can you go fast enough to outrun them?"

"Legaia is faster than the D'Larma ships." Seven confirmed.

"Then why are you staying here?" Harry asked without thinking about it. "Why haven't you tried to escape them?"

"If we leave, the D'Larma will kill you." Seven said bluntly. Seven's statement silenced the bridge crew. The hybrids were not willing to abandon them when they had so easily done it to them. It gave a few of them hope that one day they would be forgiven.

Legaia ended the quiet moment as it veered to the side as a phaser blast past by where it was only moments before. It reminded everyone that they were in a battle that they very well might loose their lives to.

Voyager moved away from Legaia as well. The other ship was targeting them, the phaser just grazing its shields as it moved out of the way.

Both ships broke communication after that. Maintaining communications and fighting the enemy ships would have been difficult at best.

"Legaia, target the ship that fired on us, try to take out their phaser banks." B'Elanna ordered.

"Acknowledged," Legaia said as it fired its own phasers at the enemy ship. "Direct hit, enemy shields down to 87."

"This isn't working," B'Elanna growled in frustration. "Even with light shields this battle is going to take too long. We only beat the other two ships because we surprised them."

"Maybe we can surprise them again." Naomi suggested.

"What do you mean?" B'Elanna asked. "They already know where we are and where we're going."

"If they're anything like Seven says they are they'll probably run as soon as it looks like the sides have evened out." Naomi explained. "I remember a report I did on Commander Riker. The Enterprise was ordered to take part in a training exercise. The Enterprise was supposed to have a mock battle against an all but decommissioned ship."

"That doesn't really seem fair." B'Elanna interrupted to point out.

"It wasn't supposed to be." Naomi continued. "It was a test to see what they would do if they were ever in a situation that they didn't have the fastest ships, or the most weapons.

Riker was able to trick enterprise by creating sensor ghosts of other ships. Enterprise's sensors couldn't tell the difference between them and an actual ship. We could do the same thing." Naomi said excitedly.

"Your plan is impressive." Seven complimented. "The D'Larma will not engage in a battle if the risks out weigh the potential gains. We can also generate false images and make it look as if they are being transmitted by our 'Armada.'"

"Let's do it." B'Elanna agreed. "Legaia hail Voyager."

The bridge of Voyager appeared again on the view screen. Everyone appeared to be in relatively good health, and they had not taken any obvious injuries.

"We have a plan." B'Elanna said simply.

"At this point I'm willing to try just about anything." Janeway said as Voyager shook from a phaser blast.

"We're going to use some advanced sensor ghosts to make it look like we have an Armada coming in to back us up." B'Elanna explained. She knew that she didn't have time to give a more detailed explanation so she settled for the simplest.

"How do you propose to accomplish that?" Tuvok asked calmly.

"There really isn't time to explain." Naomi said. "Just don't be surprised when the Armada shows up and begins to communicate." Naomi finished as the communication ended.

"Captain," the communication officer of the Warship Draxus said alarmed. "I am detecting a large group of ships in the nebula ahead. They match the technology of the smaller ship."

Captain Malokus paled slightly. They had discovered that the smaller ships was the more dangerous of the two, having to deal with more of them may be more trouble than they were worth, two of their ships had already been rendered helpless.

"How many ships are waiting for us?" Malokus asked.

"27 ships Captain, many of them larger and putting off a much larger weapons signature." The communications officer announced.

Malokus was silent for a moment as he considered his options. He wasn't like most of his other people in the sense that he would go into needless battles, and he knew when to back down. It was why he had lasted as long as he had, and only had to have minor repairs done to his ship.

On the other hand two of the ships he was traveling with were damaged. It didn't matter what way he looked at it, it was still an insult to his hunting skill to not have seen the attack.

"Captain we are being haled, audio only." The communications officer said. "I believe it is the lead ship of the Armada."

"Answer them."

"You have attacked one of our ships and our ally." A scratchy voice sounded over the bridge. "You will stand down immediately or we will attack."

"Your people have damaged two of my ships. I demand reparations." Malokus said, not about to loose face.

"You are in no position to demand anything. We are only moments away from our people, where we will destroy you, if you do not leave immediately. You have obviously scanned us, and know we have the weapons to easily defeat you."

"Why would you give us this chance to escape?" Malokus asked suspiciously. If the situation was reversed he knew that he would not be making the same offer.

"We are not like you. We do not wish to do battle with every species we com across. We are only interested in protecting our own." The voice answered simply.

"Who are you? We can not even see your face. What shall we tell others when they ask about this day?" Malokus tried to get as much information as he could out of them.

"Tell them what ever you wish. The next time we meet any of your kind we will leave a more lasting reason not to do battle with us." The voice said with supreme confidence.

After a long moment Malokus couldn't ignore the facts. "We have been out maneuvered break off pursuit." He said to his crew. "There is no shame in backing down to a superior force."

Janeway couldn't hide her smile as she listened to the communication that Legaia was sending.

She had made some bold moved herself, but nothing that compared to this. If she didn't know it was a bluff she would have believed it herself.

The last words of the D'Larma Captain were priceless. _"There is no shame in backing down to a superior force."_

If only they knew the truth of it.

"We're being haled by Legaia." Harry said, also unable to hold back a smile at the bluff.

"Put it on screen." Janeway said as she straightened herself up a bit.

She was surprised to be met with serious faces of the hybrids. She had thought for sure that if anyone would be happy about the new turn of events it would be them.

"You're bluff worked, they turned tail and ran, and pretty soon they're going to be out of our sensor range." Janeway said.

"You are forgetting the original D'Larma we faced." Seven pointed out.

"We still have some time before we have to deal with them, besides we can just use those sensor ghosts of yours."

"It will not work. We have insulted them. They will not stop until they catch us, regardless of their own well being." Seven said.

"We didn't loose that much time." Tom said.

"My calculations were based on our rate of speed. We had to stop while we used the sensor ghosts. They will arrive in less than one hour." Seven said gravely.

To Be Continued…


	5. Battles to Fight III

Thanks for reviewing: GoddessAnjanee, Caren H, SHAWN PROVANCHA,

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Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection

Chapter Four

"_My calculations were based on our rate of speed. We had to stop while we used the sensor ghosts. They will arrive in less than one hour." Seven said gravely._

* * *

The D'Rama Star Command was a flurry of activity over the last couple of hours. They had detected D'Larma forces approaching their boarders.

That in itself was not the strangest part however. Preliminary reports were coming in saying that a D'Larma raiding party was defeated by an unknown species, and they had forced the retreat of another raiding party.

On top of that an Armada of ships had appeared out of nowhere, and then just as suddenly disappeared. The working theory was they were using some type of advanced cloaking device.

"Rakoo, have you discovered anything else about the armada or the D'Larma raiding party?" The High Commander asked as he entered Astrometrics.

"No Commander." Rakoo answered. "As I said, they must have some highly advanced cloaks. Even our most powerful scanning arrays can't detect them."

"Very well, get ready to go. We've detected two unknown ships heading towards us. One of them appears to be the same species as the armada that disappeared from our sensors." The Commander informed him.

"What will we do once we reach them?" Rakoo asked.

"We have to find out their intentions towards us. I have the full backing of the council to do what ever is necessary." The Commander said. He didn't want a fight with whoever these people were but he couldn't allow him or his people to appear weak.

"Commander, I'm also detecting a D'Larma raiding party converging on the two unknown vessels. They are equipped with heavy weapons and armour." Rakoo added.

"This is High Commander Laryx calling all available ships." Laryx said as opened a link. "There is a large armada of unknown ships converging on our boarders, as well as a D'Larma raiding party. Converge on the following coordinates." He said as he transmitted the coordinates.

* * *

Both Voyager and Legaia were affecting repairs as quickly as possible while they moved closer to D'Rama space. There only hope now seemed to be in hailing the D'Rama and asking for assistance.

"Captain, we're as ready as we're ever going to be." Harry said from Engineering. "We don't have enough time to do any more repairs, if I had to guess we're just over 65 battle ready."

"Thank you Mr. Kim." Janeway said as she closed the link and hailed Legaia.

"Legaia here," B'Elanna answered.

"Do you have any more information on the D'Larma ships?" Janeway asked.

"I'm transmitting what we have now." B'Elanna said. "Everything is going to come down to this battle, any mistake we make they will capitalize on, and we must do the same. We can't show any mercy this time. We have to go for the kill."

There was no other way out of this, it was kill or be killed.

"I don't know how comfortable I am with that." Janeway said sticking to the prime directive. "Perhaps we can just cripple them like the others."

"No." B'Elanna disagreed. "We did that once already, and they came back stronger, luck won't always be on our side a second time."

"They are here." Seven interrupted the argument. "Do what you must Captain, as we will." Seven said as the link closed.

"Captain, I am detecting five D'Larma ships, all of them heavily armed." Tuvok said from his console.

"Red Alert," The Captain ordered just as the enemy ships came into visual range.

"Captain, I'm detecting a large number of ships closing in on our location from all sides." Harry Kim said. "They're the D'Rama!"

"Are their weapons charged?" Tuvok asked.

"Confirmed, but they haven't locked on to any target yet." Harry answered.

"The D'Larma stopped." Tom said as he looked at the view screen.

"Hail Legaia." The Captain ordered. "Maybe they know what's going on."

The faces of Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi filled the view screen.

"Seven, do you have any idea what's going on?" The Captain asked.

"The D'Rama have most likely detected our 'Armada'. They are most probably proceeding with caution, until they understand the situation fully." Seven theorized.

"What about the D'Larma?" The Captain asked. "Why aren't they attacking? I thought that this was personal for them."

"I am unsure, perhaps the idea that most of the D'Rama fleet are converging here have made them unsettled. In any case I believe we will know very soon." Seven said as the lead D'Rama ship entered communications range.

* * *

Galtia, the lead ship of the hunting party felt that its victory was almost assured. The enemy was now facing them at full power, and didn't even seem to affect any significant repairs since their last encounter. It would be a glorious day for them.

"Captain, I've detected D'Rama ships approaching from all directions. Besides the ships they've committed to the war I think it's the entire fleet!"

"How many?" The Captain growled. He would not have his vengeance and his prize taken from him if he could allow it.

"There are 14 ships in our sensor range, and I think that there's more on the way." He answered.

The captain said quietly fuming for a moment before finally responding. "All stop, we will negotiate with the D'Rama." He said feeling disgusted at having to use the word 'negotiate' especially with the D'Rama.

"Yes Captain." The helmsman answered as they stopped moving forward.

"Hail them!" The Captain growled at the communications officer.

As the view screen turned on the Galtia was greeted by High Commander Laryx. "I am High Commander Laryx." He introduced himself to those that didn't know him. "We have twenty-four ships converging on this location. You will leave immediately or there will be trouble."

"We will leave as soon as we have claimed our prize." The Captain bit back on his rage. He would not be ordered around by a D'Rama, even if it was their High Commander.

"We believe that there is a cloaked Armada waiting with your quarry. You will be battling both them and us if you do not fall back immediately." Laryx said, not giving an inch.

"D'Rama lies." The Captain sneered. "If they had an Armada we would seen them in our first confrontation.

"You have already battled once?" Laryx asked with some amusement. "You mean they defeated you." He laughed. "Do you really think you can beat an entire Armada of those ships? Our scans showed they were of the same technology as the smaller ship. You will be slaughtered."

"I will not allow this insult to pass, they will pay!" He threatened.

"If you must engage them you may try after they leave our protection and D'Rama space. I will not allow you to turn this area into a war zone." Laryx ordered sternly.

The Captain of the Galtia glared with open hostility. He knew that he would not be able to defeat the D'Rama fleet, as well as his prize, and if what the High Commander said about the Armada was true his task was even more daunting. What he needed was more ships, and this could give him just enough time to hire a few mercenaries to help do the job.

"Very well, but as soon as they leave your space we will be waiting." The Captain ordered as he broke off communication.

"Well that went pretty well." Laryx smiled to his crew. "Hail the two other ships." He ordered.

The view screen was split down the middle as two separate video feeds were displayed, one of Voyager's, and the other of Legaia's bridge.

"I am High Commander Laryx of D'Rama Star Command, please identify yourselves." Laryx introduced himself.

"I am Captain Janeway of the star ship Voyager under the command of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets." The Captain of the larger ship introduced herself formally.

"This is Legaia, I'm B'Elanna Torres, and this is Seven." B'Elanna said pointing to the blonde, "and this is Naomi Wildman." She said as she pointed to the child.

"A pleasure to meet all of you," Laryx said pleasantly. "What business do you have here?"

"We are on our way to the Alpha Quadrant." Captain Janeway said. "The D'Larma attacked us."

"You are a long way from home." Laryx stated.

"We request permission to enter D'Rama space to affect repairs, and possible trade for resources." Seven asked.

"We detected your Amada. They match the technology of your ship Legaia. Why would you need our help?" Laryx asked curiously.

"What you detected was a highly advanced bluff." B'Elanna said with a smile. "Our Armada was nothing more than a few sensor ghosts, false warp signatures, and a couple of redirected communications signals."

"Clever." Laryx smiled himself. "It even fooled our sensor arrays. We were working under the theory that you were some kind of strike force, but that would also mean that it was only your two ships that defeated those D'Larma raiding parties. In any case I ask that you meet with us aboard my ship to discuss the conditions of your stay in D'Rama space."

"I believe we will meet aboard Voyager instead." Captain Janeway insisted. If all her years in the Delta quadrant had taught her anything home field advantage was very important.

Laryx shot a look to Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi, as if to ask _'who does she think she is?' _They wanted to enter D'Rama space, and then control the place of negotiation even though they were outnumbered and outgunned. Even if it wasn't rude to refuse an offer of hospitality from a potential ally it certainly wasn't smart to dictate terms to a larger and more powerful fleet.

"We would be happy to meet with you aboard your ship." Seven said diplomatically, "If you would give us some time to speak with our ally privately." She asked as Janeway fumed silently in the background.

"Of course, take your time." Laryx said agreeably as he closed the link, leaving the two other ships to talk amongst themselves.

"Captain Janeway, are you aware that you tried to dictate terms to a superior military force with as many ships and resources as Starfleet?" Seven asked in a tone that was obviously not meant to be answered.

"As long as we've been in the Delta quadrant those tactics have worked." Janeway defended. She had to show that she was still in charge, even though she did make a tactical error. She had forgotten that for once, they weren't the biggest fish in the pond.

"The D'Rama are not as different from the D'Larma as you believe. They are still very prideful, and by dictating terms to them, as well as refusing their hospitality you have insulted them. They very well could have denied us permission to enter their space, and they still may depend on how our meeting goes. They have very little to gain by helping us, and they know it." Seven lectured.

"Why don't you let us worry about our negotiations with them, and you worry about your own." Chakotay said confidently. He was after all the cultural expert, and there was also the fact that he wanted to show them that they weren't dependant on them.

"Fine, have it your way, but I suggest you do what Seven says. She knows more about what's going on than all the rest of us combined." B'Elanna warned.

"We are not blind to what you are trying to accomplish." Seven said knowingly. "You believe that you are loosing control, that you have grown dependant on us to the point that we are a crutch. I do not believe that it would be wise to gamble with the lives of your crew just to prove a point." Seven finished. This attitude that Chakotay and to a lesser extent Janeway was getting out of hand.

"Your opinion is dully noted." Janeway responded. "Voyager out," she said as the link closed abruptly. She was not prepared for Seven to just lay everything out like that. She promised herself that once they had time to regroup they would address this problem fully.

"Captain are you sure that was wise?" Harry asked. Seven did seem to know a lot more about what was going on than them.

"Seven still has a long way to go in understanding how to deal with other species, and we have always done well with negotiations. This time will be no different." Janeway calmed the ensign.

"Yes Captain." Harry agreed. Sure they had some problems with a few species but they always came out on top right?

* * *

Voyager and Legaia had just docked with the D'Rama Ship Busa. Janeway was still very confident in her ability to negotiate with the D'Rama, and had largely ignored both B'Elanna, and Seven's warnings.

The quick tour of the D'Rama ship had just ended in the ready room of the star ship Busa.

"Well then, down to business." Laryx said as he took his seat. "I assume you wish to remain in our space to repair your ships?"

"Yes." Seven agreed.

"We were also hoping to visit your planet, maybe have a little shore leave." B'Elanna said hopefully.

"Perhaps you can show us how you created such convincing sensor ghost." Rakoo asked hopefully.

"Sounds like a fair trade to us." B'Elanna agreed.

"We would also like to trade for some dilithium crystals, as well as the use of one of your landing pads to fine tune some of Legaia's systems." Seven requested.

"The landing pad shouldn't be a problem." Laryx said thoughtfully. "The dilithium crystals though, they might be a little harder. What do you have to offer us?"

"A shielding system specifically designed to defeat any and all scanning algorithms, including the Borg." B'Elanna offered.

"You have developed shielding frequencies that can beat the Borg?" Rakoo and Chakotay asked at the same time. It had come as a shock to both groups.

"It's a little something that Seven and I have been working on in our free time." B'Elanna responded. In truth Legaia was also an important factor, it provided the advanced computer systems necessary for the creation of it.

"You have certainly caught my interest, can you tell us a little more about it?" Laryx asked. In this area of space the Borg weren't too much of a problem, but that could change at any time.

"Well the problem with shielding something from the Borg even with rotating shield harmonics is that in essence it's just an algorithm. No matter how random it is, there is always a pattern to it. The Borg know this, so they use their own algorithms to search for the similarities. Once they know that it's child's play to punch through the shields." B'Elanna explained.

"We have to use algorithms. Only a person can generate true random shield harmonics, and doing it manually takes too long." Chakotay offered his opinion.

"The use of algorithms is the entire problem, they're too predictable. We've developed a three dimensional multi-transic matrix. It calculates shield frequencies at a thousand times faster than an array. It enables each cubic foot of a shield to have its own distinct frequency. It also calculates the scanning algorithms that the enemy is using, and defeats it." B'Elanna gave a brief overview. It took her and Seven a while to even conceive the matrix, and then creating it was a headache all in itself.

The eyes of everyone in the room widened. They didn't think they would understand a technical explanation of what B'Elanna had just said, but the overview was in a word, revolutionary. The applications of this three dimensional multi-transic matrix were endless.

"Why wasn't I informed of this immediately?" Janeway asked, with an equally outraged expression on Chakotay's face and a simple raised eyebrow from Tuvok.

"We are not under your command Captain Janeway, simply your allies, and we haven't integrated the matrix into Legaia yet, that's why we need a landing pad." Seven explained.

"I don't think we can allow you to simply give away this technology." Janeway said. "It could change the balance of power in this part of the quadrant."

"I don't believe that's your decision to make." Laryx said. He was tired of this Voyager crew thrusting their beliefs on his people and continually interrupting Legaia's crew. He also really wanted this matrix that they had come up with.

"Laryx is correct," Seven agreed with a glare directed at Janeway. "However we would not be simply giving them a three dimensional multi-transic matrix either. It has the ability to manipulate shields in a way that was previously impossible. They would have the ability to function as a melee weapon in the form of sharp spikes or stabbing objects just to name one possible function."

"I don't mean to belittle you shield matrix, but what use do we have for a melee weapon? We have both phaser banks and photon torpedoes." Laryx asked respectfully.

"Melee weapons are pretty underrated. They have the ability to do a larger amount of damage than torpedoes. They can tear down the shields of anything they touch using nothing more than brute force, but most of all torpedoes and phasers are meant to be used at a distance, at close range they won't be able to get a lock." B'Elanna explained.

"Interesting," Rakoo said. "Given the design of most ships in this area of space, a smaller ship armed with these melee shields could do a considerable amount of damage."

"I am sorry to say however we will not trade for a fully functional three dimensional multi-transic matrix. This technology would be dangerous if it was readily available to everyone." Seven explained. "Critical power loss will disable the shield, and if it were recovered by the Borg they will eventually discover a way to circumvent it."

"Then how do you plan to give us this technology?" Rakoo asked curiously.

"We'll give you a hardwired matrix." B'Elanna explained. "It will give you the primary function of the matrix, a shield capable of defeating any and all scanning algorithms. The shield itself will create a bubble around your ship that will extend four meters above your hull. It will only work as an external shield, you'll have to use you own shielding technology for the rest of your ship."

"We must warn you." Seven said before anyone else could ask a question. "The matrix is coded as a collapsible chain. If any attempt is made to disassemble, scan, duplicate, or reverse engineer any part of the matrix it will be detected. The coding will then collapse leaving nothing behind."

"You mean we only get one?" Rakoo asked in disappointment. What made it worse was that any attempt to study the matrix could lead to its destruction.

"The point is for you to know that it exists, and that given time you will be able to create it on your own using your own ideas and technology." B'Elanna added with a smile.

"That seems hardly fair." Laryx pointed out. "From what you tell us it's basically a crippled matrix, only capable of one of its possible millions of functions."

"Well that's why we're only asking to use a landing pad, and for some spare dilithium crystals." B'Elanna pointed out.

"I guess you've got a point." Laryx conceded with a laugh. "And I would be honoured if visited my planet. Remora is a beautiful planet, especially at this time of year."

"Thank you." B'Elanna, Naomi, and Seven replied. Naomi had decided to stay out of most of the discussion for the most part. She just barely understood it as it was.

"Now then we should discuss your stay in D'Rama space Captain Janeway." Laryx said as he turned to face Janeway, Chakotay, and Harry Kim.

"What do you mean?" Janeway floundered. What were they talking about? The matrix that B'Elanna and Seven put together was what they were trading. They had already finished negotiating.

"Come now, you didn't think that we were negotiating with both of you at the same time, did you?" Laryx asked as he took in the looks on the faces of Voyager's crew. "Legaia's crew has offered us something very intriguing, you on the other hand have offered us nothing."

"We have a prime directive. It forbids us from trading our technology with other species. It could upset the balance of power in this area of space." Tuvok said.

"I refuse to believe that you survived this long, alone in the delta quadrant thinking like that." Laryx scoffed.

"Perhaps a star chart of all the places we've been." Chakotay offered. It usually was a pretty good bargaining chip, but by the look on Laryx's face it wasn't enough. Having an organization as large as the D'Rama had would mean they had fairly detailed star charts already.

Janeway was also having similar thoughts. She had to admit to herself, she had come into this negotiation unprepared. They couldn't trade technology, that was a given, but what else could they be interested in? She had seen how they had reacted to Seven and B'Elanna's shield matrix, and they were close enough to the federation to make it difficult to trade for anything else.

The D'Rama were not what they had been expecting. They assumed there would be a sharp contrast in comparison with the D'Larma. They reminded Chakotay of the Ferengi in a way. They apparently put a lot of value on making a deal, and for one of the few times that he could remember Voyager wasn't in the driver's seat and the D'Rama knew it.

Laryx sighed as he looked at the crew of Voyager. He wasn't a bad guy he just didn't believe in giving someone something for nothing. On the other hand he didn't want to cause any problems with the people that were willing to trade. He could see the tension between the two groups easily. Something had happened, and he didn't want to be the cause of even more tension between them. "We will accept your star charts, as well as a history of your federation and this prime directive of yours in exchange for remaining in our space." Laryx offered after he weighed his options for a few moments.

"Thank you." Janeway said, remembering one of the few things that Seven had told her about the D'Rama. It would be insulting to appear anything less than grateful.

"You may return to your ships now." Laryx said. "I am sure that you will need some time to prepare everything." Laryx said as they were escorted to the shuttle bay.

"Seven, B'Elanna." Janeway said calling them over. "We need to have a discussion about your shield matrix."

"It is called a three dimensional multi-transic matrix." Seven clarified.

"Yes, that, but is it compatible with Voyager?" Chakotay asked. If the shield could do everything that B'Elanna and Seven said it could do then it should be installed on Voyager as well.

"It can be adapted to Voyagers systems just as it can be adapted to the D'Rama's." Seven replied.

"How long before a fully operational one can be installed on Voyager?" Janeway asked expectantly. If she could get them to agree to this it could go a long way to restoring their fractured loyalties.

"Excuse me?" B'Elanna asked. "What makes you think that we'll give you a fully operational 3DMTM (three dimensional multi-transic matrix)?" Since when did Voyager automatically have the right to it?

"You may not be members of my crew." Janeway conceded, "But we're still allies, and that mean helping each other."

"Giving anyone a fully operational 3DMTM is not going to happen." B'Elanna said with finality. "I've discussed this with Seven, and Naomi and we all agree that we will give you one hardwired 3DMTM, the same as the one for the D'Rama in payment for the use of your shuttle bay to store Legaia."

Janeway and Chakotay both knew what that meant. It was a lot more than a simple trade. By accepting this offer it would make it plainly obvious that the hybrids were not dependant on Voyager in any way. It would no longer be an offer of good faith to let them use the shuttle bay, but more of a business transaction.

"We'll have to think about it." Janeway said finally. She couldn't make a decision like that until she spoke with the entire senior staff.

"Take all the time you need." B'Elanna said as she, Seven, and Naomi boarded Legaia followed by the Delta flyer, as they returned to Voyager.

* * *

It had taken a couple of hours but everything was ready. Voyager had compiled all of the data that the D'Rama had requested, and B'Elanna and Seven had put the finishing touches on the hardwired matrix.

Legaia had been cleared to land on landing pad e371 while Voyager maintained an orbit around the planet. Landing pad e371 was also the transport sight for Voyager so that Laryx and Rakoo could meet them all at once.

The landing party consisting of Janeway, Kim, and Tuvok transported to the planet at the same time that Legaia landed to meet an already waiting Laryx and Rakoo.

"It is good to see you again." Laryx said as he smiled warmly at all of them. "I have arranged for a tour of some of our museums, as well as the citadel of Ludvik. It contains most my people's history, a good amount of our worlds Relics, as well as the myths and legends that are still dominant in our culture to this day." He boasted.

"Lead the way." Janeway said curiously. Perhaps she could find out more about why the D'Rama and the D'Larma had decided to split their race in the first place.

The Citadel of Ludvik was the first stop on the tour. It was quite possibly the oldest building in D'Rama history. There were still people wondering how such a building was created so long ago without the aid of modern construction equipment.

Legaia and Voyager's crews couldn't help but be impressed by what they saw. There were tapestries covering almost every wall, artefacts in glass display cases, and some ancient looking armour in display cases.

"This is linked to one of our more popular legends." Laryx said as he stopped in front of a metallic sphere. "It is said that one day a champion will arise to claim the sphere, and from it they will create a weapon like no other. The stars themselves will cry to herald their arrival, and the kings of old will bow before them."

"Why is this legend so popular?" Seven asked curiously.

"It's been the childhood dream of pretty much every child for the past 800 years, myself included." Laryx smiled. "To ride of into the heavens finding adventure wherever we go, not to mention the princess of the stars."

"Princess of the stars?" Harry asked curiously. This story was getting more and more interesting by the second.

"Yes, the love of the champions life, she is said to be of indescribably beauty, after that the legend actually becomes a little sketchy. Some believe that they are both destined to die at the end of the quest, but others believe that death is only the beginning of the quest. Countless historians have tried and are still trying to figure out the true story." Laryx explained.

"How do you know the champion when you meet them?" B'Elanna asked curiously. "And who are the kings of old?"

"That is what makes it a legend." Laryx laughed. "No one knows how we will know, just that we will know, and we believe that the reference to the three kings goes back almost 2000 years. The entire planet of Remora in ancient times was ruled over by three kings that were at constant war with each other. They could not agree on anything, and our people nearly fought our way to extinction because of it. Then poof, out of nowhere all three of them just disappeared. To this day we have no idea what happened to them, where they went, or even how all of them could have just disappeared so close to the same time."

"Look outside," Naomi said excitedly. "It's a meteor shower!"

As everyone looked up the color drained from Laryx's face. There had never been a meteor shower over Remora, ever. "The stars themselves will cry to herald their arrival." He whispered, but it was so quite that everyone still heard it.

To Be Continued…

* * *

THOUGHTS/OPINIONS/QUESTION?

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	6. Shattered Worlds

Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection

Chapter Five

_As everyone looked up the color drained from Laryx's face. There had never been a meteor shower over Remora, ever. "The stars themselves will cry to herald their arrival." He whispered, but it was so quite that everyone still heard it.

* * *

_

"That's probably just a coincidence." Janeway said. She personally didn't put too much stock in legends, or prophecies.

B'Elanna, Seven, and Naomi on the other hand seemed to be taking it differently. After Laryx's admission they had all grown more serious. To the casual observer it looked as if there was a private conversation going on between them, just by the way that they were looking at each other.

Finally Seven stepped forward, as she looked at the sphere. All but B'Elanna and Naomi were shocked when a soft white light traveled from Seven's eyes to the sphere. It surrounded it for a few seconds before the light returned to Seven.

"Your sphere is composed of iron, with small pockets of phosphors, and a gradium shell." Seven said. "If your legend is accurate, this may not be the real sphere."

"How did you do that?" Rakoo asked. "The gradium shell made it impossible for us to scan it." He wondered how she was able to scan it like that. Could it be normal for her species?

"My method of scanning materials is… exotic." Seven said as she searched for the right words.

"That's putting it mildly." Rakoo said, still not getting over the shock of what Seven was able to do.

"Why didn't you just remove the gradium shell?" Harry asked curiously. It seemed like the easiest way to solve the problem.

"There are actually two reasons for that." Laryx explained. "First we couldn't risk destroying the sphere in the process. It's one of our most important historical artefacts. Secondly, gradium is actually an extremely brittle substance. We didn't want to destroy it in the process. Otherwise we'd probably be lining our hulls with them."

Harry nodded in understanding. He hadn't really thought about it like that.

"Why don't we pick up the tour later?" Rakoo suggested. "Coincidence or not, the fact that a meteor shower happened at all over Remora is at the very least a national curiosity."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Janeway agreed. "I would be curious to find out the reason myself."

Both landing parties and their host left the citadel of Ludvik at a leisurely pace, each heading to their own respective ships.

* * *

Seven, Naomi, and B'Elanna had just stepped inside Legaia. They all hid it well from everyone else, but couldn't keep it bottled up any longer.

"I can't believe it. Do you think that legend is about us?" Naomi asked curiously.

"I am unsure, but we were instructed to travel in the direction of the Alpha quadrant. It would not be outside of the realm of possibility that this was the first step and this legend applies to us." Seven said thoughtfully.

"Or it could be a complete coincidence," B'Elanna added. "For all we know it could just be a story someone made as a bed time story for their children."

"What are you talking about?" Legaia asked. It was beside itself with boredom. Legaia felt more like a person than a ship at times, and found long periods without anyone to talk to disconcerting.

"It's a D'Rama legend." Naomi said excitedly. "It said something about a champion coming that was supposed to get that weird sphere they have and use it to make a weapon, and the star's crying when they came, and three old kings are going to bow to them. They also said something about the princess of the stars being in love with the champion." Naomi said, butchering the poetry of the legend only in the way that a child could.

"I see." Legaia said as it took it all in. "Seven may I hear the prophecy verbatim?" It asked, making sure that her tone didn't offend Naomi. Sometimes a large part of deciphering a prophecy was hearing it in the original words.

Seven nodded as the white light emerged from her eyes and connected with Legaia's optic transceiver. Medium to large sized balls of light travelled between the two as Legaia saw everything happen through Seven's eyes.

"Who do you think the references are to?" B'Elanna asked.

"You are most probably the champion B'Elanna." Seven stated. She was the only one of the three that seemed to fit the bill. They hadn't quite figured out how Omega was a part of B'Elanna, but it was obvious that it had given her the ability to take charge of a situation if necessary, and protect those she cared about.

"I think that makes you the princess of the stars." Naomi added.

"Wait, if Seven is the princess of the stars, isn't their logically a queen of the stars?" Legaia asked.

"Maybe the queen refers to the Borg Queen?" B'Elanna ventured a guess. She may not see it as much more than a story but she couldn't really ignore the similarities it had to them.

"But does that explain the stars part?" Naomi asked. "The Borg Queen is the queen of the Borg. I don't think she would ever claim to be the queen of the stars." Naomi looked to Seven for confirmation.

"You are correct Naomi, the Borg queen has never claimed herself to be anything else other than the Borg queen, but it all may have a deeper meaning." Seven said not willing to dismiss B'Elanna's idea either.

"What if star and princess are two different clues, princess means next in line to be the Borg queen, which let's face it, if they knew about Seven she would be." B'Elanna developed her idea.

"The stars may then refer to something which is capable of generating mass quantities of energy, much as I am capable of doing now with the Omega molecule." Seven added her own thoughts.

"Wait a minute if all of that is true what about the death part?" Naomi asked remembering what Laryx had said.

"These are just theories Naomi." B'Elanna calmed her. "We may be just fishing here, but in either case that's where the whole thing gets sketchy. Remember what they said, death may only be the beginning." She reminded her.

"B'Elanna is correct." Seven agreed. "In many cultures death is not considered the end of living, merely the next step in life. Some believe that when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly the part of it that was a caterpillar dies, because it can never again be the caterpillar."

"So the death might part might mean you and B'Elanna fully merging with Omega?" Naomi asked, another piece of the prophecy falling into place.

"In either case it's more complicated now. We don't know anything specific about the three kings and the sphere doesn't sound like it's the real thing." Legaia pointed out. "It's only made of iron, phosphors, and a gradium shell. They are all fairly common elements, and easily synthesized."

"I guess that begs the question, if what we saw wasn't the real sphere, where is it?" B'Elanna asked. It seemed the more they thought about it, the more questions they had, and no real answers.

"I believe that is what we are here to find out, provided that this sphere actually exists." Seven vented her doubts, thinking along the same lines as B'Elanna. "The only value the sphere could have may be spiritual." Seven referred to the people that, in a way worshipped it.

"In any case, assuming the legend is real and we were supposed to find this sphere. I believe that we have all the tools we need here. It stands to reason that if the kings of old must bow to us, then they will know where the true sphere is. When we find them, we find the sphere."

"How are we supposed to find them?" B'Elanna asked. "If they disappeared 2000 years ago and the D'Rama haven't found them in all this time, what chance do we have? All we know for sure is that they had three separate kingdoms of equal power."

"That is not entirely accurate." Legaia pointed out. "Laryx said that they all just disappeared, and eventually it was discovered that they disappeared at roughly the same time."

"Roughly the same time could mean exactly the same time." B'Elanna caught on. "2000 years ago it must have taken a long time for everyone to figure it out, and even then informing all the other kingdoms might have taken even longer."

"I think it seems more likely that they did not disappear, but were taken." Seven realized.

"Yeah, and if it that's true it could have happened at the same time. There is no way it could have been the D'Rama, or the D'Larma, back when they were the same species. The logistics of doing something like that would be impossible without modern technology, or more accurately the outside influence from a more advanced species." B'Elanna added.

"Why would a more advanced species care about them?" Legaia asked curiously. It was the same as an average person caring about what an ant does.

"Another good question," Seven agreed as the questions started to pile up.

"So if there were an advanced species, years ahead of the curb where would they hide three kings for 2000 years without anyone finding them?" Naomi asked the most important question.

"That's it!" B'Elanna suddenly shouted. "We're the ones that are supposed to find the three kings. It isn't where they would hide something so no one else would find it, its where would 'we' hide something we wouldn't want anyone else to find.

"A sub space pocket or a mini universe," Legaia said suddenly. "It is how we hide things we don't want anyone else to find."

"A sub space pocket could be opened from anywhere by anything. We could pass the door a hundred times and never know it." B'Elanna said. "A pocket universe it completely undetectable until it either merges with an existing universe, or a wide enough door is opened."

"If we were to hide a pocket universe it would be somewhere that was easily accessible at virtually any time. We must find the most public, accessible place on Remora relating to the three kings." Seven deduced.

"Do you think anyone else figured this stuff out yet?" Naomi asked. They probably didn't know anything about subspace pockets, but they might be able to figure out the relation they had to the legend. There was no telling what the D'Rama, or Voyager would do if they were to discover any part of this.

* * *

A lone figure walked into what was now mostly the abandoned section Of Voyager, Astrometrics. After Seven had stepped down it was largely unused, except for communications with Earth.

"Admiral Neechev." He greeted.

"I see the new security codes are working." Neechev had just recently placed a code into Voyager's communication array making covert communication possible. It was completely undetectable. The fact that Voyager was now closer to Earth also helped, enlarging the window where communications were possible. The fact that Voyager hadn't been informed about the larger window had also helped.

"They are." He agreed.

"What do you have to report?" Neechev asked, getting down to business.

"There have been some startling new developments. Seven and Torres have developed a three dimensional multi-transic matrix. It is capable of calculating shield frequencies a thousand times faster than an algorithm, as well as being able to defeat any and all scanning algorithms, including the Borg. As it stands this matrix is capable of thousands of different functions." He reiterated.

"As soon as they install one on Voyager I want a full schematic on it as well as instructions so we can produce them here." Neechev ordered. If he could be the one to claim credit for this it would cause his career to skyrocket.

"For the time being that is impossible." He pointed out. "They have only agreed to give us a hard wired matrix, encoded with a collapsible chain. If we make any attempt to disassemble, scan, duplicate, or reverse engineer any part of the matrix it will be detected. The coding will then collapse leaving nothing behind."

"That is totally unacceptable. Order them to give you the schematic immediately." Neechev demanded. He was never a patient man.

"They are no longer under our command, and have become necessary to our survival."

"Then try to find out another way, monitor their movements. Any time they are on Voyager record what they are saying. I want to know everything about this matrix of theirs." Neechev demanded.

"Yes sir," the long figure agreed reluctantly. Doing something like that without others finding out would be difficult.

"There is also something else sir." He said as he paused to consider the validity of it. "We have been informed by the D'Rama of a legend that may apply to Seven of Nine, and B'Elanna Torres."

"I didn't think that you would be wasting your time with such fairy tales." Neechev smirked. It was probably just an old bedtime story anyway. There was no way that it could apply to the world now.

"It foretold a meteor shower, something that has never happened in D'Rama history." He said.

"I don't even want to consider the number of planets in the federation that have not had a meteor shower, and may have one in the future," Neechev said. "If this legend proves to be anything other than coincidence keep me informed."

"Yes, sir," he said as he closed the link and left Astrometrics.

* * *

"Well that went pretty well." Janeway said as they returned to Voyager. "Do we have any information about the meteor shower?" She asked Chakotay.

"Meteor shower?" Chakotay asked. Why would the captain care about that?

"Yes, it fits into a very old D'Rama legend. Apparently it's the first meteor shower that has ever happened on Remora." Janeway filled him in.

"Well there isn't anything really special about it. It was just a small group of meteors that mostly burned up in the atmosphere." Chakotay answered.

"Do we know the origin of it?" Janeway asked curiously.

"Yeah, we extrapolated that it came from roughly 10 light years ahead of us, probably caused by a solar flair from a neighbouring sun." Chakotay answered.

"Oh," Janeway said, feeling a little disappointed. She was kind of hoping that there was a little more to it. It would have been interesting to find out more about the legend, but she guessed that it really was just a coincidence.

"You sound disappointed." Chakotay pointed out. It was just a meteor shower, there wasn't really anything special about it.

"Don't worry about it." Janeway dismissed. "The schedule for shore leave still needs to be worked out."

"I've already finished Captain." Chakotay said proudly. He had put it together just before Janeway had returned.

* * *

The first day of shore leave had just begun. Most of Voyager's crew were visiting the planet, leaving a skeleton crew aboard Voyager. Most of them had opted to go to the resorts, but there were still a few that decided to take in some of the more cultural aspects of Remora.

That was where Janeway and Tuvok found themselves. Both of them were interested in the legend. If there wasn't a rule about all the commanding officers leaving the ship Chakotay would have probably been there with them.

"Look over there," Janeway pointed as she spotted Seven, Naomi, and B'Elanna. She thought for sure that they would be installing their matrix today.

"Curious." Tuvok agreed. From what he knew about Seven and B'Elanna he didn't expect them to be here, and looking at the exhibit on the three kings.

"Taking in the sights I see." Janeway said as she sidled up next to Seven, causing her to take a step back and closer to B'Elanna.

B'Elanna put an arm around Seven's waist possessively as she stared coolly at Janeway.

"Well, it's an interesting legend." Janeway conceded, not allowing B'Elanna's look to faze her.

"We were just curious." Naomi said as the three of them walked further into the exhibit, towards the depictions of the three kings.

Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok watched as the three hybrids walked further into the exhibit, deciding not to follow them.

"Well there it is." B'Elanna said. "The three kings, if it really is hidden in a pocket dimension this is where it has to be."

The three hybrids looked at the paintings, searching for something that may open it. If it was anything like Legaia it had to be a button or a switch of some kind.

After a few minutes of futile searching Seven let out a sigh, "this is not working. If this pocket dimension exists it would not be a button or a switch. Someone would have discovered it by now."

"I think you're right Seven." B'Elanna agreed as she stopped looking as well. "But how are we going to open it if there isn't a button?"

"Maybe it doesn't need a button." Naomi guessed.

"What do you mean?" B'Elanna asked curiously.

"If there really was a species advanced enough to create a pocket universe two thousand years ago, chances are it probably wouldn't be the same as the one on Legaia." Naomi explained. "The way I see it they created their pocket universe two thousand years ago, well before the people that created Legaia, we can't really expect it to be the same. What if they advanced it to the point where the key to opening it wasn't a button or a switch, but a thought?" Naomi asked.

If there was anything that the three hybrids had learned since all of this had started was that things were almost never as they appeared to be, and that sometimes they had to think outside of the box to figure something out.

"I appreciate the thought Naomi, but if it just opened because I wanted it to then wouldn't it have opened by now?" B'Elanna asked.

"Perhaps you must actively want the door to open." Seven suggested.

"How do we even know that it's me?" B'Elanna asked. "It could just as easily be Seven that it's keyed to."

"No B'Elanna, remember the legend." Seven said. "It is about you, please try, think about the doorway, and picture it opening in your mind."

B'Elanna took a moment to look around, making sure no one was watching before she started.

B'Elanna closed her eyes as she followed Seven's advice. She didn't know why but whenever Seven said the word 'please' she couldn't help herself.

B'Elanna pictured the doorway opening in front of them, leading them into the pocket dimension that they were searching for.

"You did it B'Elanna," Naomi said excitedly as the portal opened in front of them.

It wasn't like the one aboard Legaia. The doorway didn't just blink into existence. It glowing blue with a circle inside it. From what they could tell it led outside, to a clear blue sky. An old castle was in the background, almost in shambles from the amount of time that it stood.

"Let's go," B'Elanna said as she took Seven and Naomi's hands. She didn't want anyone else to notice the portal and follow them.

When they stepped through the portal they couldn't believe what they saw. It was a bright, sunny day. A large castle covered in moss, and partially crumbled stood before them.

"Any ideas on what this place is?" B'Elanna asked as she looked around.

B'Elanna couldn't see too far into the distance before she came across a wall of white light. It surrounded the castle in an oval, and stretched as far as they could see.

"What happened to this place?" Naomi wondered. "I thought there were supposed to be people here."

"It is strange," Seven agreed. She had been expecting a highly advanced civilization here. The pocket dimension they were in was small, extremely small. There wasn't even any life in the dimension capable of supporting a humanoid.

"Maybe we can find some answers in the castle," B'Elanna suggested as they walked towards the giant doors.

B'Elanna pushed on it, and the door literally fell over with a giant thud. The castle was barely held together.

The hybrids carefully stepped inside, hoping that the castle wouldn't fall apart around them.

Suddenly things changed in the blink of an eye. The castle was repaired, no the castle was restored. The moss was gone. It was as if the castle had just been built. People were inside, hundreds of people.

They were al walking around the castle, some selling their wares, others sitting outside enjoying the sun, the inside of the castle seemed to have grown at least a hundred times bigger.

"What just happened?" B'Elanna asked, as she quickly looked around. She didn't understand how this could be possible. She saw it with her own eyes, this castle was wrecked. There was nothing left except broken walls and moss.

"I am uncertain," Seven said with the same level of shock. The whole situation didn't make any logical sense.

"Can they even see us?" Naomi asked. They were alien to these people. They should be sticking out like soar thumbs.

Almost in answer to Naomi's question a figure walked up to them, stopped for a second in front of them, and then walked right through them.

"How could this be possible?" B'Elanna asked as she checked their surroundings again. They could touch things, solid objects, but people passed right through them.

"It is almost as if laws of physics don't apply here," Seven said as she looked at the sky. One half of it was daylight, the other was night. It was not clearly divided either. It was almost a swirl that met in the middle. A pattern of light and dark, mixed together, but the differences between night and day stood in contrast to each other. It would have been beautiful if it wasn't so strange.

"What could have happened to this place, to make it like this?" Naomi wondered.

"It is as if this pocket dimension has become fragmented, much like a computer core." Seven observed. "The only reason we have not been affected may be because we opened the portal after this had happened, leaving us outside the normal flow of time."

"Is there a chance we could return to the normal flow of time, whatever that is for this place?" B'Elanna asked. She didn't know what would happen if the people here could see them.

"I do not know." Seven admitted. She had never even heard of a place that could exist like this.

The hybrids continued to wander through the city, and if possible things were even stranger.

A man was pulling a cart down the road. He would stop for a second to wave to a person, continue down the road, stop suddenly and go in reverse, before starting all over again.

Some were frozen in place, never moving never making a sound, while others around them moved at incredible speeds, almost a blur.

Seven immediately realized that the people weren't actually frozen, but moving so slow that it caused them to look as if they weren't moving at all.

The hybrids finally reached the harbour, and were shocked by what they say. Giant waves were in the ocean, but they didn't move. They were frozen there, almost like cement.

Naomi reached out experimentally, and touched one of the waves. "Come and feel this," Naomi explained. "The water feels solid, but wet at the same time."

Seven and B'Elanna reached out as well, touching the water. It was just as Naomi had described, somehow wet, but solid at the same time.

"We need to find out what happened to this place." B'Elanna said as she looked around the dock. "This isn't natural, it's like this whole place is night and day, today and tomorrow, yesterday, and the day before that all at once."

"The level of technology in this pocket universe does not coincide with what has happened here." Seven observed. "The level of technology here suggests that this place is at roughly the same period as Earth in the 1800's."

"What do you mean Seven?" B'Elanna asked. The only one here that even stood a chance at figuring out what had happened here was Seven.

"It is as if time and space have been mutated." Seven tried to explain. "Some kind of event in the distant future of this pocket universe has done something that caused a ripple effect going both forwards and backwards in time." She theorized.

"The only way to know what happened to this place is to find a way to reach the future of this pocket universe, the origin of what ever could have caused this disaster."

"How are we going to do that?" Naomi asked. She didn't even understand how a place like this could exist, let alone a way to travel to the future of it.

"I believe that each part of this place exists at a different point in time." Seven guessed from what she had seen of this world so far. "I believe that the point in time that this disaster occurred is accessible to us."

"I don't think this place is a pocket universe Seven," B'Elanna said as she stopped suddenly. They were standing outside the citadel of Ludvik, only it seemed newer, as if it had just been built. The entire pocket dimension was too large to be even considered one.

"There are no parameters for this pocket universe," Seven realized, as the situation became even stranger. "Legaia's pocket universe has specific parameters on how large it can be, it is the reason that the pocket universe is contained. This pocket dimension has no parameters, so it has encompassed the entire planet."

"Why would it only stop at this planet?" Naomi wondered. If it had no parameters then shouldn't it be continuously moving outwards?

"I believe that is something we must ask Legaia." Seven said. What Naomi said made sense, she didn't believe that the pocket universe would simply stop, unless their was a very good reason.

"I wonder if we can access the portal from anywhere." B'Elanna said.

If they could access the portal from different places, they also may have access to places they can't reach now.

"Considering the size of this pocket universe, it is a distinct possibility. The portrait may have simply been a focal point, a place that made you realize that you could open a portal" Seven agreed. "There may also be a different explanation to why only you can access this place B'Elanna."

"What do you mean?" Naomi asked.

"If time has truly been mutated, and we can access the past, present, and future, then it is also possible that we were supposed to be here, that we are also part of the past, present, and future of this place." Seven theorized.

"Do you mean we could have, I mean we will cause this to happen?" Naomi asked, getting lost in the different tenses.

"It is too early to tell," Seven said. "We do not know nearly enough about this place, or what has happened to it."

"Why don't we see if we can get out of here?" B'Elanna asked. "We've already been here a long time."

"I agree," Seven said. They didn't even know if the flow of time was different here than the real world.

B'Elanna concentrated as she pictured the portal opening in front of them. In a few seconds the portal formed, just as they had hoped, and the hybrids stepped through, back into the real world.

To be continued…

* * *

PLEASE REVIEW! 


End file.
